ABSTRACT

After the post-war reforms of legal and official terminology, colloquial style held undisputed sway in textbooks, novels, newspapers, magazines, discursive and critical essays and books, official communications, and other forms of writing in common circulation in society. The development of colloquial style was in no way the result of a natural evolutionary process, but rather a revolutionary reform undertaken deliberately as a result of exposure to the west. The two most important facilitators of debate on the issue in the Meiji Period were the Ministry of Education and the press, both areas charged with informing the public. Once the desirability of reform was established, the issue of whether the solution should take the form of colloquial style or futsubun generated intense interest, and it was this climate of general interest which enabled proponents of colloquial style to obtain the government support necessary to the realization of their goal.